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Celebration of the vanities 名利赞 The Privileges. By Jonathan Dee. 《高人一等》乔纳森迪著。 AT THE best of times, the self-made rich are usuallyheld up in fiction as shallow, contemptible andundeserving of sympathy even when theirwealth leads to misery and ends in ruin. And theseare certainly not the best of times. Yet JonathanDee has courageously stuck to his guns in writing anovel about the marriage of a gilded couple of ambitious chancers who not only amass greatwealth from humble beginnings, but who are neither damaged nor made wretched by theirsuccess. 最好的时代，小说里白手起家的富人一贯浅薄可鄙，倘若穷困潦倒、破败坍台，也不配得到一丝同情。如今当然不是最好的时代。而乔纳森迪勇气可嘉、坚持立场，写了一对野心勃勃、富有豪阔的机会主义者的婚姻，两人出身低微、聚敛财富，既没有被自身的成功所害，也没有变得不幸。 The story of Adam and Cynthia Morey s life together begins with a bravura description oftheir wedding in Pittsburgh. Unusually young to get married, it quickly becomes clear thathandsomer, smarter and more self-confident than everyone else around them, they aremade for one another and already destined to be among life s winners. Adam movessmoothly from investment banking to a small but respected New York private equity firmwhere he rapidly becomes its capricious founder s protg, heir apparent and therecipient of ever more inflated bonuses. Meanwhile, Cynthia devotes herself to raising theirtwo young children and encouraging Adam to get on with acquiring the means to give themboth the privileged lifestyle and social status she feels is their due. | 
